The recent decision by a St. Paul elementary school principal to no longer have the school celebrate "dominant holidays" — timed to take effect on Valentine's Day — is worthy of a deeper discussion than simply labeling it "political correctness" and walking away.

Look no farther than the letter Principal Scott Masini of Bruce Vento Elementary School issued to the community. He wrote in part "I have come to the difficult decision to discontinue the celebration of the dominant holidays until we can come to a better understanding of how the dominant view will suppress someone else’s view.” He stated the school will no longer celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

In public schools, there certainly is merit in not celebrating holidays that have a dominant religious theme. However, there is a big difference between "celebrating" and "educating" students about religious or cultural events.

For example, this board hopes the principal's letter does not ban teachers from educating students about holidays with religious roots. And not just Christian-based Valentine's Day and Christmas, but celebrations such as Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha for Muslims and Holi and Diwali in Hinduism.

In addition, the school and entire St. Paul school district certainly must educate all students about federal holidays rooted in the founding of this great nation. On that list must be Thanksgiving along with Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Day and Veterans Day.

Admittedly, such lessons probably don't help students meet academic standards and test scores more focused on science, technology, engineering and math. But they are important in the context of helping a diverse student population better understand the community — and country — in which they live.

The Star Tribune reported the student body at Bruce Vento school is 52.3 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 35.4 percent black, 6.9 percent Hispanic, 4.3 percent white and 1 percent American Indian/Alaskan Native. More than half the students are learning English as a second language.

Those statistics reiterate a couple of strong statements.

First and foremost, Vento elementary must educate its students on — and help them celebrate — the holidays the federal government has established as critical to the founding and defining of America as a nation built on freedom. Second, it still should be acceptable to educate students about major religious celebrations marked by the various faiths practiced within their community.

Again, the difference here is drawing a bright line between education and celebration.